


Five Times that Kai hid an Injury...

by Feliadox



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But a Genius, Foreshadowed Sequel at the End, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Kai having a Bad Habit of Hiding Injuries, Kai is Aware that Zane Sees All and takes Precations, Kai is Stubborn, Kai is an Idiot, Kai loves his siblings and Will Die For Them, Kai no, Kai's siblings have NO Idea, Probably will have some Oneshots to it's name, Serious Injuries, This proves to be Bad for his Health, but they will, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:54:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23133499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feliadox/pseuds/Feliadox
Summary: ....and the One time he couldn't.
Relationships: Cole & Kai (Ninjago), Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Nya & Jay Walker & Zane, Kai & Jay Walker, Kai & Nya (Ninjago), Kai & Zane (Ninjago), Lloyd Garmadon & Kai
Comments: 17
Kudos: 245





	1. Lloyd

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this.... last year sometime? I think??  
> ...  
> Wait no, I think two years...  
> ...hng..  
> ANYWAYS  
> It's probably not the BEST, but the guys over at FF.net seemed to like it well enough!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!!

It was pouring.

Not an innocent little sprinkle, _oh no_! It was a torrential _downpour._

And being the Master of Fire? Yeah, you can tell how this is going to go...

And to think, he had been having such a nice day, too.

A wild shout snapped Kai out of his thoughts, and he snapped up a quick block to his clearly lesser trained opponent's strike, the resounding clang leaving a faint ringing in his ears. A fierce grin made it's way onto the soaked red ninja's face as he quickly disarmed his opponent and then skillfully knocked them out with the hilt of his sword.

Whipping his head around, Kai quickly scanned the impromptu battle field for his 'siblings'. Relief swept through him as he saw that they all had their battles well in hand. Jay and Cole even seemed to be making a game out of it, shouting out numbers to each other, while Zane and Lloyd listened and watched in exasperated amusement.

Shaking his sopping wet hair out of his eyes - which was in vain, apparently, as it simply slid right back after he swept it away for the nth time -, a small movement in the trees caught his amber eye by sheer chance. Whipping his head around, Kai zeroed in on a hidden archer.

Who was aiming at Lloyd.

His brother.

His _baby_ brother.

Everything seemed to slow as his mind's eye worked out just what he was seeing. He quietly pushed away the quickly bubbling rage, for the moment, and instantly realized something.

He wouldn't be able to warn Lloyd in time. No, the archer was already locked and loaded onto his little brother, and by the time he warned him, that accursed arrow would already be skewered through his chest.

So, there was only one acceptable solution. If that arrow was going to hit _anyone_ , it would be him.

As he came to that conclusion, everything rushed back into full motion:

The archer loosed the arrow.

Lloyd turned to see what was flying towards him.

The other ninja yelled out in warning and fright.

And Kai slammed Lloyd - his little brother, his _baby brother_ ; that archer would _pay for this_ \- out of the way of the arrow, his momentum carrying them both mostly out of the path of the arrow. Mostly.

Kai was never so happy to have a soaking wet red gi than at that moment. It hid injuries quite well.

Hiding a grimace of pain as something just short of agony raced across his lower ribs, Kai quickly checked over Lloyd over for injuries. "Are you okay?! It didn't get you, did it?"

Lloyd shook himself out of his shocked stupor, blinking dazedly. "N-no. I'm fine. Thanks Kai. Your really saved my bacon."

He breathed a sigh of relief, shoulders slumping, before they raised back up rigidly and leapt to his feet in a battle ready stance. "Wait, what about the archer?!"

Zane laid a calming hand on Kai's shoulder. "Not to worry. Jay and Cole are taking care of him. Are _you_ alright, Kai?"

A sharp sting. "Yeah, sure, I'm fine! Do you think you could scan Lloyd and make sure that it really missed him?"

Zane waved him off reassuringly. "I did that as soon as the others took off after the archer. You did well, Kai."

Kai slumped tiredly. "My 'good enough' almost wasn't. We're just lucky that I saw it in time."

Lloyd cuffed him over the head with a huff. "Stop that! You saved me; you made it! I'm right here, safe and sound thanks to you."

"Yeah, what he said," Cole grunted as he waded through the semi-dense brush, the archer that caused all this mess hog-tied and slung over his shoulder.

...And looking much worse for wear, to Kai's immense satisfaction.

Jay bounced out from behind him and slung a arm across Kai's shoulders, unknowingly aggravating Kai's side. "C'mon Kai, cheer up! Everything turned out a-okay. Now, what do ya say we all finish up here and go home, huh?"

Kai heartily agreed, and soon they were all back on the _Bounty_. Excusing himself with the plea of exhaustion, Kai stealthily snagged the advanced first aid kit that they had in one of the bathrooms and fully took in the extent of the damage with a wince.

The less said about the torturous removing of his soaked through clothing, the better.

A long, angry red mark was gouged across his side, right under his rib cage, and a dark, grim looking bruise covered from just above the severe laceration all the way down to the top of his hip.

Biting back the steady stream of foul curses, Kai quickly balled up the cleanest, least bloodiest piece of his gi before biting down on it, effectively blocking any screams that would be sure to somehow slip past the firm barrier he had placed against them.

Taking a deep breath in through his nose, his side protesting fiercely, and gathering up all his courage, Kai applied the large antiseptic patch he had prepared ahead of time.

The world whited out.

Suddenly, in some part of his brain that was untouched by overwhelming agony, he was very, very glad that he had taken the precautions to stop anyone from seeing or hearing him. Locking the door behind him had been simply an after thought, but now he is so very glad that he took the second to do so. After-all, he couldn't have someone walking in on him feeling like he was dying, now could he?

He hated rainy days.

Somehow pulling himself back together out of the sheer force of will, he quickly finished cleaning out his grievous gash and then agonizingly pinched the skin back together with the butterfly thingies that somehow he could never remember the name of. Taking a moment to center himself, Kai then finished up by wrapping some gauze around his middle and over the still sluggishly weeping wound.

Finished. Now he could die in peace. Didn't they say that death was simply eternal rest? Yeah, he could go for an eternal nap right about now.

Sadly, this just wasn't how Kai Smith rolled. Briefly mourning the fact that he couldn't stay seated on the bathroom floor with stray medical supplies strewn about forever, Kai mentally shook himself off and then started quickly cleaning up his small mess, throwing his filthy gi into the washing machine.

That done, and knowing that his brothers would be coming to bed soon, Kai hurried (i.e. slowly walked, as his side firmly rebelled against the thought of anything fast other than sleeping) back to the room and painfully climbed into his top bunk.

Kai didn't regret what he did. He never would. You could scour his soul for eternity, and you would never find even a slightest shade of remorse for doing what he had done to save his little brother. Kai would relieve this _entire_ horrible, no-good rainy day if it meant that Lloyd would survive.

In fact, he would willingly do this for _any_ of his siblings, with absolutely no hesitation at all if one of his brothers' or his little sister's life was on the line.

Hands down, no questions asked.


	2. Jay

Now fully healed, if sore, Kai somehow found himself helping Jay with his latest creations.

All purpose Ninja Gauntlets.

Really, if one took the time to look them over and realized their potential, you could see that it was truly ingenious. It had retractable claws so that they could scale buildings easier, a grappling hook, a small lock picking set, a built in comm system, a setting that made it glow in the dark, and, of course, because it was super cool and could have actually helped them out of a few scrapes in the past, a built in mini laser.

Now, they just had to get the parts for it. Which proved easier said then done... As a quick trip to Jay's parents junkyard proved about two and a half hours later.

"Jay! I really don't think that we will find any usable parts for a _laser_ in a junkyard."

Jay looked up, wiggling a finger and tutted, "Oh, ye of little faith! You have no idea just what treasures we'll find out here! Once, I found perfectly fine military-grade weapons at the bottom of the scrap-metal heap."

Kai blinked, wide-eyed. "I don't know whether to be more concerned about the fact that you found military-grade weapons, or that you're so nonchalant about it."

Jay snorted and threw a stray paperclip at him. "Oh, shush you. Besides, did I ever tell you about the time that I found an honest to god nearly mint-condition comic book collection? Who in their right minds who throw that away?! You see, I had been picking through the piles for stuff for my first prototype wing-suit..."

Because of the fact that Jay had the tendency to ramble, Kai tuned him out, with one ear semi-listening to him and the other alert for danger.

Later on, when Kai looked back, he supposed that's what ended up saving them.

Freezing at the tell-tale sound of a groaning creak, barely heard over Jay's voice, Kai hissed out. "Jay. Stop talking"

Jay huffed at him, not understanding the danger. "Why should I? I can go at this alll daaayyy loonnggg."

"No, _seriously_ Jay. Shut it."

Finally taking note of the true seriousness of his brother's tone and his ridged posture, the blue ninja similarly froze and whispered. "Kai, what's wrong?"

Kai never got to answer, as a metallic screech rent the air and the pile they were standing on started to tip over and start falling apart.

Kai shoved Jay ahead of him, "MOVE!"

With a yelp, Jay scrambled forwards with Kai right on his tail, the relatively safe foot and hand holds becoming scarcer and scarcer as the pile became unstablized right underneath them.

But, of course, since the situation wasn't quite bad enough already, one of Jay's foot-holds gave way right underneath him as soon as he stepped, consequently twisting his ankle. With a shriek, Jay tumbled backwards, falling back into the metal waterfall that the pile was becoming...

Or, he would have, if it hadn't been for Kai locking a steel-like grip around his upper-arm and, with his adrenaline running through him like a wild fire, the red ninja easily hauled his blue-clad brother over his shoulder in a fire-man's carry.

Snarling in determination, Kai hurriedly scaled the metal mountain, trying to out run the forces of gravity that were tipping the pile, his freshly healed side protesting with a faint phantom pain that he paid no mind to. He couldn't. There was just no _time_.

By some form of miracle, out of the corner of his eye, Kai spotted a pile of discarded cushions off the the side.

On the ground.

_Out of the way of the tumbling pile._

But, with his speed hampered by Jay's weight, they wouldn't make it in time. Not both of them anyways. Jay couldn't run, not with his twisted ankle....

...And he wouldn't be fast enough for the both of them.

So, with these thoughts most predominant in his mind, Kai began shifting his hold on his brother. "I'm going to throw you! Brace yourself!"

"You're going to _what?!_ " Jay squawked incredulously. But that was the only thing that he had time to do before he found himself flying through the air with a scream that sounded like a school-girl's, of which was cut off as he landed in the fairly large pile of cushions.

With the time that it took to throw Jay, the metal under Kai's feet had become unstable, causing him to trip backwards as it took him with it to the ground below.

At least he knew when he landed, if the pain of dislocating or potentially breaking his arm was anything to go by.

Stifling a ragged scream that clawed it's way up his throat, Kai curled under the miraculously placed, dented metal table that he had rolled under for protection. Ninja instincts at their finest.

Soon, the roaring sound of falling metal subsided, and the newly settling silence causing Kai to mostly snap out of his pain-filled daze. Cautiously lifting his head up off the ground, and after a moment, deeming it safe enough to shift in his little cubby, Kai's shoulder decided to remind him that it was still here and hadn't gone anywhere in the last ten minutes with harsh stab of blinding pain.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Kai decided to get it over with and see if he couldn't alleviate at least a little of the acute pain in his general shoulder area. Gingerly pulling the shoulder of his red gi down and off his shoulder, it was revealed that, no, it was not broken. Dislocated? Yes. Bruised? Picasso would have been proud of all the interesting colors his shoulder was turning.

Well, that just wouldn't do.

Fumbling with a leather strap for a moment, he pulled out his concealed dagger that he always carried with him and sank his teeth into the firm, thick leather hilt. _Ooohhhh_ , this was going to hurt. Very much bad. Just go to your happy, Kai, just go to your happy place.

Before he could back out of it or tense back up, Kai yanked his shoulder and popped it back into place with a cringe worthy snap.

Ow. Ow, ow, owchie, owow, _OW_. Hurting _very much bad_ , ow.

Blinking away his pain-induced tears and slowly extracting his teeth from the small dents - that wouldn't last - made in the hilt, Kai let himself take a moment to shakily suck in sharp gasps of breath. There. He did it. All is well in the Kai world. Maybe. He would have to get back to that later, when his shoulder wasn't still throbbing with, though significantly dulled, pain.

Okay, minute's over. Time to move again. _Joy_.

" _Kai?! Kai where are you?! KAI!_ " Oh. That was Jay. He should probably let him know that he's alive and just fine. Just fine. Right.

Clearing his throat - when did it get so dry? - Kai shouted, "Yeah! I'm here!"

The relief was tangible in Jay's voice. _"Y-your alive! Are you okay?!"_

His shoulder _throbbed_ in response. "Yeah, just fine! Though, I'm getting a little claustrophobic in here."

_"Don't worry, I called the others as soon as I landed in this mound of cushions you threw me in, so they should be here shortly!"_

Just as he said that, the roars of the elemental dragons rang through the air, letting them both sigh a breath of relief.

Soon enough, both of them were bundled away into their rooms on the _Bounty_. Knowing Zane would try and scan him for injuries - if he hadn't already, which Kai dearly hoped not. He did _not_ need to be coddled, thank you. All he needed was a nice hot shower and his pillow - Kai skillfully evaded a medical check as his slipped away into the bathroom, firmly locking the door behind him.

Thanking whatever deity had granted the small mercy of it not being an open wound, Kai once again removed his gi and winced as he took in the full sight of his shoulder in proper lighting. It wasn't pretty, but at least it didn't look like his arm was about to fall off... In fact, he could probably blame the bruising on running into a door-jam or maybe even falling out of his bunk. Running into a door-jam was significantly less embarrassing than falling out of bed, but whatever worked.

Finishing getting undressed, his new scar under his rib-cage in full view, Kai stepped into the shower and never ever _ever_ wanted to leave. Ever.

Forget his hydrophobia, _this_ was his new happy place.

And that was his steadfast opinion until he collapsed onto his bunk with the ice-pack he had swiped. Nope. _This_ was his happy place, and anyone that wanted him to move would have to fight him.

Listening to his brothers' breathing, some snoring and others breathing softly, gently lulled him to sleep. Everyone was safe, here, breathing, and relatively uninjured.

With this soothing thought, Kai feel into a dreamless sleep.


	3. Cole

" _Why_ did I _ever_ agree to this?"

"Oh, shut it Kai."

This was the last time that Kai ever did anything 'recreational'. Recreational his _foot_.

You see, it all started this morning, where Nya - dear, sweet little sister who was going to get an _ice-cube down her shirt_ \- had the 'brilliant' idea of doing 'recreational' activities today, and being the awesome big brother that he is, Kai backed her up.

That was his first mistake.

We then decided, after ruling out sky-diving - _no_ , Jay, sky-diving is _not_ considered a recreational activity. Stop pouting - and skiing, that hiking was the best, most relaxing choice. On a rocky mountain-side. _Thanks_ Cole.

So there they were, walking - racing... - down the trail together, unknowing that even a simple hiking trail could be a true danger zone. Kai had even started to enjoy himself, ribbing his brothers, teasing and laughing... He let his guard down.

That was his second mistake.

Honestly, he should _know_ better than to do that, he's a _ninja_. It was this mistake that landed them in their current situation.

If only he'd been a little bit faster... "Kai. I can here you beating yourself up from here. Quit it. It wasn't your fault, man."

"I'll stop when you do."

"...Touchè"

Without warning, there was a sudden, distant roar of a landslide... And it was getting louder. Surprised, they all stood on the quaking path, frozen for a few precious moments, before Cole whipped around with a roar. "MOVE!"

Screaming, we all ran for life and limb... But the rock slide was quickly catching up... And they never took into account that the path they were on could have become unstable too.

His third mistake... And the one he ended up paying for the most.

Honestly, this had been a disaster in the making since the beginning. It's a miracle that he was even still alive.

Kai had been the closest to the edge, and with one wrong step, the weakened path gave way right out from under him. With a shriek - which he will forever deny -, the red ninja failed to keep his balance and desperately tried to grab the crumbling ledge as it dumped him off the path.

Cole, being the boulder-brain that he is - in Kai's opinion, because he is _not worth risking his life for why does he not see that_ -, stopped running for his life and and went back to pull Kai back up.

The path couldn't hold them. They dropped over the edge like the stones that came tumbling, rushing, _roaring_ after them. And, just barely heard through the deafening turmoil made of natural forces, Kai heard his black-clad brother bellow and the world came to a sickening halt.

It was... dark. Quiet now. There was no sound, except his own wheezing breath and the sharp agony that was his side... No. Wait, there was someone else breathing down here too.

And that is how both red and black-clad ninja found themselves trapped in a rather small pocket on the side of the crumbling mountainside created by Cole himself, buried under the rock slide. Stuck until the others found them.

With broken ribs. Not that Cole knows that, of course. If he did, he would just worry about him, and they couldn't _focus on him_ right now. But, Cole being Cole, he would anyways. Boulder-brain.

Shifting as gently and slowly as he could - Kai locked his jaw to keep from screaming profanities as he felt his broken ribs agonizingly rub up against each other - the Master of Fire blindly felt along the thick stone walls, trying to find his oddly quiet brother.

Now, Cole wasn't anywhere near as chatty as Jay, and was more known for being the quiet one of the four ninja... But whenever they were stuck between a rock and a hard place - sometimes _literally_ \- he was their rock, supporting both them and their spirits.

No, Kai did not miss the irony of this fact.

Finally connecting to something decidedly _not_ stone, a vague sense a triumph bubbled in Kai's chest as Cole sputtered. " _Kai_ , that's my _face_!"

He yanked his hand back with a startled yelp, that was a little more high-pitched than normal as he had jostled his broken ribs. "Sorry! I was just trying to see where you were."

Cole huffed. "If you wanted to see where I was, why didn't you use your fire?"

Kai leveled the general area where Cole's voice came from a flat look, even though he knew that the black ninja wouldn't be able to see it. "Because fire eats up oxygen, and I like to _breath_ more than I like to _see_. We don't know how much air is down here, and I would like to stay alive for as long as possible."

"...Oh." Oh indeed.

The grim, oppressing silence came back in full force, slowly eating away at them. Kai groaned, lightly banging the back of his head on the wall of stone behind him, before struggling to his feet and gingerly making his way to the pile of rubble that was blocking their way out.

"What are you doing?" Kai got the vague impression of an eyebrow being lifted as he started shifting the rubble.

"I..." Grunt. "Am going to see if I can get us out of here." Kai huffed as he attempted to move a particularly unwieldy stone. His ribs kindly reminded him that, no, he was not, in fact, going to be moving that rock. Growling, he relented and moved onto the next one.

His ribs told him that, no, he wasn't moving that one either.

A sigh sounded from behind him and the sound of feet shuffling closer alerted Kai to the fact the Cole was now beside him. "Move over and let me have a try."

Scowling, Kai shuffled back to his spot against the wall, knowing that he would hinder more than help. Didn't make him feel any better though.

There became a rhythm as the minutes -seconds? hours?...days?- passed:

Wheezy inhale. Sharp pain. Cole grunts.

Exhale. Rocks move.

Inhale. Pain. Pebbles scatter.

Exhale. Cole huffs in exertion.

Inhale. Pain. A boulder thumps.

Exhale. The rocks shift.

Inhale. Fresh air? Pain. A faint sound of triumph.

Exhale. _Light!_ "Well, why don't you look at that! Light _does_ still exist! Looks like we'll be out of here in no time."

Kai grunted, his eyes closed against the stabbing light, drained but not willing to show it. "You think we'll be out before the sun sets?"

"We will be if _I_ have anything to say about it."

The air was lighter as Cole resumed digging through the blockade, the pattern resuming with renewed vigor.

Soon enough, there was a big enough gap dug out for a ninja to crawl through. That was fun. _Not_. But, they were freed from their little stone tomb as the sun was slowly setting in a distance, and a falcon flying overhead.

Wait... Falcon?

Sharing a glance with his dusty, black-clad brother, they both took off chasing their white-clad brother's falcon, waving their arms wildly in the hopes of getting the mechanical bird's attention.

Which they did.

After lighting a tree on fire.

It was an accident, they swear it.


	4. Zane

Panting raggedly, Kai leaned his head against the cool metal wall that he was half using as cover and half using as support. Angrily punching the wall in frustration with all the dwindling strength of a kitten, the Master of Fire quickly recounted the horribly failed mission that just kept getting worse and worse.

How had it gone so wrong, so fast?

* * *

_"Alright, gather 'round guys. Nya, if you would please."_

_Nya nodded to Lloyd, and switched on the hologram display. Clearing her throat, she gestured to the literal fortress of a factory shown. "This, is our target." She takes this moment to zoom in slightly and highlight multiple entrance points, things to look out for, and guard placements. "We will enter in through three points. Here." An area in a blind-spot at a corner of the factory lit up. "Here." One of the minor smoke towers. "And here, right through the front gates"_

_Our eyes snapped to her in alarm. "Wait, what?!"_

_A cunning, wry grin stretched across her face. "Yep. There's a major top secret delivery coming in tonight, and there will be a_ _lot of guards... No one should bat an eye at two more. We'll_ _slip in right under their noses."_

_Sharing her grin, Kai wrapped an arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair, just like he use to do when they were little. "Sis, have I ever told you how awesome you are?"_

_The rest of the team loudly voiced their agreements. Nya giggled, pretending to ponder for a moment. "Nooo, I don't think you have."_

_Kai mock-gasped in horror. "_ Never?! _Well I guess I'll have to fix that, won't I?" His grin become a bit fonder, "Seriously though, sis. This awesome plan of yours will definitely get us in without a hitch!"_

_Jay laughed, his eyes shining as he laid his hand on her unoccupied shoulder. "Yeah! With this plan of yours, what could possibly go wrong?"_

* * *

...He would have to punch Jay the next time he saw him. _Hard_.

But, to do that, Kai would have to survive this first. Which he wouldn't if _he didn't get moving right now._ Gritting his teeth against the throbbing hot fiery pain stabbing his thigh, the red-clad ninja quickly - painfully - tucked into a forwards roll and then dove into another open hallway as the air whistled sharply behind him. Blinking rapidly to get the world back into focus, which did nothing for the lightheadedness that was slowly causing a headache to pulse behind his eyes, Kai scrambled forwards.

Good thing he did, as where he was just previously sitting was now outlined with bolts of steel. His panting growing increasingly ragged as he darted sloppily through the halls, Kai came to a split second decision that would either save him... or kill him. But, if he didn't do something soon, he would die anyways. Yaayyy.

Letting a breath escape from his nose, Kai's next actions were so fast, that they were all caught within the same second. Twisting around - his leg screaming profanities at him, and probably would be throwing sharp objects too, if it were physically able -, he simultaneously snatched the bolt of iron that would have pierced his skull in the next moment out of the air and threw down a hastily snagged smoke bomb. Never leave home without one.... Or twelve.

Diving into the ventilation system was probably a bad idea, but it was his only option, so he would just have to deal with it. Finding a rather large conjunction of what seemed to be a collection of at least one major vent and a couple of smaller ones, the red-clad ninja decided to take a chance and rest here for the time being.

His thigh decided then to remind him that it was _not happy_ with him running around with it by making it feel like he was being stabbed and branded at the same time. With a suppressed snarl of pain and kinda feeling like he wanted to cry, Kai finally decided to fully see why his leg was causing him so much grief, though he could guess.

The sight that greeted him made his already now pale skin pale even further and swear softly.

His leg was still bleeding heavily, signaling that something major must have been at least nicked, and the cause of it all was innocently sitting embedded in his leg. The end of the bolt that was sticking out of his thigh was splintered off, showing that it had snapped in his mad dash to safety. Or maybe he had broken it in half right after he was hit so that it wouldn't hinder him... It was hard to tell.

He supposed blood-loss would do that to you.

Oh well. Nothing he could fix right now, so he would just have to put up with it until he got to a proper first-aid kit. Or something like that. Everything was a little fuzzy right now.

With a hiss, he bunched up the surrounding fabrics of his pant leg and tied it off with a zip-tie into a makeshift bandage. Not the greatest bandage, but it would have to do for now. After all, he couldn't risk bleeding out before he finished the mission, now could he?

Now, time to get moving again. Fun times, fun times.

After finally getting to his feet, his thigh screaming at him the entire time, Kai decided to start limping through the largest, major vent so that at least he wouldn't have to belly crawl for who knows how long.

He supposed it was a good thing he did, because after an undetermined amount of time limping quietly through the large vent - _one foot in front of the other, Kai, one foot in front of the other -_ he soon came across a grate that let him see down into another hallway... where a group of guard just shoved one of his brothers into what looked much like a cell. A glimpse of white before the door slammed shut gave away exactly who it was.

 _Zane_.

How did they catch _Zane_?! He was the most careful out of them all, never taking unneeded risks unless it was necessary.

Maybe it _was_ necessary? Nevertheless, it was up to Kai to get him out of there... Aaaaaaas soon as the guards left.

Was it getting colder, or was it just him? Must be Zane. Yeah. Had to be, because if it wasn't, that probably meant he was in serious trouble of bleeding out.

Grumbling quietly, Kai silently unscrewed the narrow grate and carefully let himself drop down to the floor once the guards left, locking his jaw to keep a ragged shriek from escaping him as the broken bolt in his leg was harshly jostled. Blinking away both pain-induced tears and the spots threatening to cloud his vision, the exhausted Master of Fire hobbled closer to the thick, locked door and quickly set upon picking its lock.

With a final twist, the heavy-set door unlocked with a satisfying ' _click!'_ and Kai warily pushed it open, not quite sure what he would encounter on the other side. With a gasp, he darted inside the small cell - ignoring his harshly throbbing leg - and to his limp white-clad brother's side. With a quick check, he confirmed that, yes, Zane was still alive, and simply just knocked out.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kai roughly shook his Nindroid brother's shoulder. "C'mon, Zane. Wake up! I can't fight while carrying you," _and probably couldn't carry you right now if he wanted_ , "so you need to wake up!"

A muffled groan was his answer. Sighing, really wishing he didn't have to do this, Kai super heated one of his hands - not enough to hurt anyone, of course - and poked the back part of the Master of Ice's neck.

The resounding shriek as Zane scrambled away left Kai's ears ringing.

The red-clad ninja hurriedly hushed him, " _Shhhhh!_ Are you _trying_ to get us caught?!"

The startled white-ninja scowled at him, still rubbing his neck, but significantly quieter, "Well I wouldn't have emitted such a noise of that caliber if you hadn't done _that_! I thought we agreed never to do that-"

"' _Unless it was in dire circumstances_ ', I know. But this qualifies, as you weren't waking up, and _have you seen where we are?!_ Now, let's get out of here before the guards get back. Can you stand?"

After a moment, Zane nodded before wincing and rubbing his forehead, "Yes, but it appears that my sensors are damaged. Must have gotten hit harder than I had predicted."

Kai winced sympathetically. That was basically a concussion in Nindroid terms. "Well, nothing we can do about right now. We'll have Nya and Jay take a look at it later, but for now, let's get outta here."

"Agreed."

With that, the two battered ninja stealthily climbed back into the vents, and closed the grate behind them.

Now, it was time to find the others, hopefully in better condition than them.


	5. Nya

It had been three hours, and there was still no sign of their wayward siblings. Kai didn't know whether to be relieved or scared out of his mind.

He settled on a happy medium.

Another growing concern was if he'd be any help _at all_ soon, as his leg _had not stopped bleeding_ and his lightheadedness had gotten progressively worse. At least Zane wouldn't have to worry about him too, with his sensors in heavy need of repair. Thank goodness for small mercies.

They had finished their own missions as quickly as two injured ninja in a fortress swarming with guards could, and then started checking the places where the others had been sent.

But no such luck. There was no sign that they had even made it there in the first place.

Roughly running a hand through his hair, anxiety through the roof, he watched Zane peer through the small vent down into yet another room. This time it was a small storage room. Looking up, Zane shook his head, silently conveying that their siblings weren't there either. Harshly tugging on his spiky hair before letting his hand fall limply to his side, Kai scowled darkly at the far wall of the steadily narrowing vent they had been making their way through.

Closing his eyes and resting the back of his throbbing skull on the chilled wall, Kai suppressed a teeth-chattering shiver that rushed through his bones. Not good.

The Master of Fire stiffened at the sudden cool hand on his shoulder, his eyes snapping open, before he made himself relax. It was only Zane. "-d you hear anything I said? Kai?" Shaking his head - gently, mind you, no need to make things worse - to hopefully clear some of the fuzziness that was slowly growing in size. "Y-yeah, uhum, yeah, sorry could you repeat that for me?" If anything, this made the white ninja look even more concerned. "I was asking of your well-being, as I cannot properly check myself. Are you okay to continue looking for the others?"

Shaking his hand off my shoulder, I marched - _limped_ \- onwards to the next vent without answering. There was _no way_ I was going to stop because of a stupid flesh wound.

Fate must have decided that this had gone on long enough after the umpteenth room or hallway we peered down into, because the shrill sound of an alarm screamed through the air and echoed twice as loudly through the vents, causing both ninja to cover their now deafened ears. Thankfully, being a ninja came with some perks, as in being able to communicate with obscure eyebrow gestures and head bobbings.

Which came in extremely handy in these kind of situations.

No longer concerned with being loud, they hurried down the vents - Kai's limp becoming more and more predominant the faster he went, but he forced himself to walk perfectly normal every time he saw Zane even twitch in his direction... which probably messed his leg up even more... -, following the stream of guards from above.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw though, through the vent right above all the commotion.

Lined up in a row - _on their knees_ \- were their siblings glaring defiantly up into their captor's and his fellow guard's eyes, prisoners to be executed and looking more than a little roughed up.

The rage was instant and fierce, roaring through his system and clearing away the exhaustion, pain, and fuzziness with all the power of a howling wild-fire. He never noticed that he was melting through the grate with his bare hands. Not until he was suddenly tipping forwards and his Nindroid brother yelped as he tried to catch him, but to no avail.

The world slowed. His mind, at this very moment, was as clear as it had ever been in hours, but he knew it wouldn't last long. But it _would_ last long enough to at least get his siblings out of here, and complete their mission.

That thought satisfied, Kai turned to the problem at hand.

He was currently falling from a rather high place, so no matter how he landed, it was going to hurt. A lot. _Wheee_.

 _But_ , if you really looked, his current position was _also_ the greatest place to do the most damage. _Yes_. He could work with that.

He happened to have surprise on his side, though not for very long. This would have to be done quickly.

Luckily, Zane and he had happened to have to common sense to place the extra bombs that they had brought, which would serve to both complete their original mission and serve as a distraction. Perfect.

Everything sorted, the world resumed to it normal speed... And then Kai released nearly every ounce of his pent up aggression down upon the gathered soldiers and machinery. The screams of terror and the groaning of melting metal was music to his ears.

_Oh, there's the ground. Hello ground. It's nice to meet you. I'll need my face back, thanks._

The wind was painfully knocked out of him as he landed awkwardly onto the metal flooring, but other than some serious bruising, he would be fine. Luckily for him, he landed on his good side. The one without the horribly inconvenient bolt of steel brokenly sticking out of it.

Forcing himself up - with the help of a somehow not yet on fire crate - Kai gasped for air as he hobbled along the sidelines of the chaos that he had created and back behind where his siblings were being forced to kneel, noticing Zane doing the same.

Quickly ridding them of their shackles and waving off their concern, the ninja all quickly used the growing pandemonium to make their escape.

As soon as they were in the clear and the base was evacuated, they let Jay push the button.

The fortress blew and it made a beautiful picture.

Then Kai turned around and punched the Master of Lightning in the arm. _Hard._ Before Jay could even open his mouth to question what his problem was, the exhausted red-clad ninja threateningly pointed a figure into his brother's face. "You are to _never. EVER._ say _'What could possibly go wrong'_ before a mission _ever again._ Clear?"

Properly abashed, Jay sheepishly nodded while still rubbing his arm. "Clear."

Kai sighed and briefly rested his hand on his blue-clad brother's shoulder before nodding deeper into the forest that surrounded the mountain where the factory fortress had previously been located. "Let's go find a good place to set up camp for the night." No one argued.

Jay helped Zane onto Cole's back so that the Master of Earth could carry him, and then allowed Lloyd to use him as a crutch. Exchanging a meaningful glance with his sister, Nya kept a look out as Kai lead the way, which he was silently thankful for as it distracted her from examining him closer and making a big deal out of his injuries.

Which they weren't. A big deal, that is.

Nope.

Definitely not.

He's quite sure that it was actually getting colder because the sun was setting and _not_ because he was going into shock. He's perfectly A-Okay.

Right as rain, in fact. What's there not to like about rain? Besides the fact that it's wet, and icky, and sometimes made him feel like he was melting.

...He was in serious trouble, wasn't he?

A soft whine made everyone freeze and whip around to the maker of the sound. It was Zane, looking miserable and in pain. Through pained, squinted eyes, the Master of Ice weakly waved them off. "Apologies. Please do not mind me."

Scowling, but only out of worry and not true anger, Kai shook his head. "Na-ah. This is as good a place as any to set up camp. Cole, could you make a fairly large stone tent? Jay is going to need some room to work." Cole nodded and lowered Zane down onto the ground and gently leaned him against a covenant log next to Lloyd, who had twisted his ankle during his capture. "There you go, Frosty. Don't worry, Jay will have you fixed up in no time."

Zane only sighed in response, his eyes closed. They all exchanged worried looks before Lloyd gently tapped the Nindroid's face. "C'mon Zane, you can't go to sleep now. How about you tell me how you unlocked your true potential? I don't think you've told me that story yet."

He had, but that wasn't the point.

The white ninja half-opened his eyes with a faint smile, knowing exactly what their younger brother was trying to do, but relented anyways and slowly started telling his tale, about how they followed a falcon that showed them much great fortune; how they travel for hours upon hours on foot; how he traveled through a snow covered tall birch forest on his own, where he stumbled upon an old attack droid, which he had battled. And _won_.

Kai nodded to Cole to start setting up the stone shelters as Zane continued with his tale, and to Jay and Nya for them to quietly journey further into the woods in search of suitable firewood.

Kai thanked the growing shadows that hid his leg when Nya gave him a searching look before she followed Jay. He knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid her forever, and continuing to give her tasks that kept her away from him was sure to make her suspicious sooner rather than later. But they had so much more to worry about than something that might not even be that bad. ( _It was, and he knew it._ )

Gingerly leaning against a tree and resting his eyes for a moment, he could feel the last of his adrenaline trickle out of his system, leaving him beyond exhausted, disoriented, and pained. And this time it was ten-times worse. Feeling sick, a few full bodied shivers sneaking past his self-control, Kai shoved it all away, locked into a tiny box at the back of his mind to deal with later.

Paying no heed to his shaking hands, Kai fumbled with Jay's hastily put together radio and flicked it on. "Kai to the _Bounty._ Kai to the _Bounty_ , over. Do you read me?"

_"We read you Kai, over. What's your 10-20?"_

Relief swept through his bones, taking more strength than he could spare. Grunting as he sat down, he knew he wouldn't be moving for awhile. "South, down a ways from the main gates. We'll keep a fire burning until you get here. The quicker, the better. Zane's not looking so hot, and we'd feel a lot better if we had some actual tools to help him."

 _"10-4. We'll be there as quick as we can. And I should hope that Zane doesn't look hot! He's the Master of Ice, not of Fire."_ Kai huffed a laugh at the attempt of humor. "Heh, that's true. I'm going to let you go now, I'm not sure how much this thing is built to withstand, and I'm not about to chance it. Kai, over and out."

 _"10-4. Stay safe you guys."_ With that, the transmission cut out.

Sighing and resting the back of his head on the tree, Kai once again closed his eyes. It would be so easy to fall asleep... "Kai?" Biting back a long suffering groan, the red ninja blinked open his eyes, having to briefly rub at them to clear the blurriness. Nya silently made her way across the forest floor and settled next to him - not where she could see his leg, thank goodness-, resting her head on his shoulder. Without looking at him and simply staring off into the forest in front of them, she quietly questioned. "You alright, bro?"

Kai blinked down at the top of her head. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

He felt her shrug. "You look really pale. Sick, even. Pained." She shifted so that she could look into his seemingly burning amber eyes with her dark, deep ocean blue ones that tended to look black.

"Did something happen on the mission?"

He stayed quiet, not quiet sure how to respond. To tell her, or not to tell her?

She looked away and down at her hands, her shoulders slumping. "It did, didn't it." She said it as a statement. A fact.

Gently resting his chin on her head, he didn't deny it. "Wasn't your fault."

She shoved him away, suddenly glaring. "No, it _was_ my fault! _I_ was the one to come up with the plan. _I_ was the one who made the mistake! Don't you _dare_ try to tell me otherwise Kay Ra- _mpth!_ " Nya suddenly found herself muffled her her big brother shirt as he hugged her close. She fought it for a minute, before leaning into his embrace and quietly crying.

"I th-thought I had _lost_ you... There were so many signs of a fight, a- and then Lloyd got hurt, and then we got caught, and _t-then_...", she hiccuped, holding him closer. He hummed soothingly, rocking her gently from side to side.

A long faded memory unfolded itself in front of him, reminding him of the time when he had held his little sister for the first time and had promised to protect her forever. A child's promise, perhaps, but a promise is a promise. And Kai _always_ kept his promises... even if at times the only thing he could do is hold her after a failed, horrifying mission.

After she had calmed down and wiped away any remaining evidence of tears - Kai using his inner heat to quickly dry his damp gi- the two siblings made their way back to the camp with a good amount of firewood loaded in their arms, meeting up with Jay about half-way back.

Once the fire had been started, and some fish that Cole had gone an caught as soon as he finished setting up camp and settled Zane had been fried up and eaten - Kai barely touching his food, but made sure that it seemed like it- everyone headed into their shelters, unaware of just how much drama was about to unfold the coming morning...


	6. Rough Sailing

Kai moaned, squeezing his eyes shut. Was the world suppose to spin that fast?

And the _heat_. He was supposed to be the Master of Fire, so why did it feel like he was melting? But that wasn't the worst part, not by far. The icy cold that stole his breath away always came rushing back after he had melted, freezing him - his skin, his bones, his blood - and making his body react with bone-rattling shivers that seemed to make everything worse.

But all of this waned in the face of the sheer ball of _agony_ his leg had become.

It made him want to _die_ \- seriously, just put him out of his misery already -, and heave the two meager bites of fish he had manged to choke down last night.

He wasn't fine. He couldn't even _try_ to fool himself into thinking that when he couldn't even _move_ , save for half curling painfully into a ball on the ground before he had to stop lest he passed out.

The only thing he hoped was that Nya didn't find him first.

Kai knew his fever was getting worse, but at this point, it was only a distant thought.

What was that blob?

No, stop shaking me.

Why are you being so loud?

 _Shuuuussssshhhhhh_.

Your hands are cold, lemme alone.

Suddenly _pain._ Blinding, unbearable _pain_ that made tears come unbidden to his eyes as the blob(s? Was there more than one? He couldn't tell anymore.) brushed against the broken bolt of steel sticking out of his leg.

What was that sound? Who was screaming? Oh wait... That's him. It kinda sounded like it was far away.

Underwater.

Muffled.

Muff-led.

Mu-fffff-leddd.

Mmuufffflleedd.

Muffled is a funny word. It kinda sounded like Muff Lead.

Muff Lead!

Oh, wait. He was moving. Urp. Nope. Abort. Abort.

Kai could feel the horrible feeling of stomach acid burning his throat as he heaved wherever his head was pointing. _Uggghhhhhhhhh_.

He was in pain, sick, confused and really wanted to die. _Why has no-one put him out of his misery?!_

Kai could hear the bubbling stream of voices, but just like the water of a stream, it slipped through his fingers. Nothing made sense anymore. Why were there so many different colored blobs? It made his already pounding head hurt even worse. He closed his eyes, the darkness instantly soothing the added thorns to his headache.

Then, he felt a super-cooled hand pat his cheek. But all his strength was sapped out of his limbs, his mind, and he barely even flinched. Please, _please_ leave him alone. Let him sink into the nice, comforting darkness. His lack of reaction caused a flurry of action, sounds (voices?), and just the barely perceived sense of pure panic. Why? What was wrong? Kai struggled to blinked open his heavy, sticky eyelids. He could only manage them to about half-way, but it was enough. Slowly blinking - and that was a true challenge, because his eyes did _not_ wanna stay open -, everything slowly came into focus.

He... was in the _Bounty_? Hm, they must have found them. Good. That... that was good.

The next thing that came into focus was Nya's determined, tear-stained face. Little sister, why are you crying? Did someone hurt you?! Tell me and I'll go beat them up!

All thoughts fled his mind as the pain in his leg increased a thousand-fold. Next thing he knew, he was _screaming._ His world blotted out, and all he could feel was the tormenting feel of mind-numbing _agony._ It _hurt_ , _oh_ did it hurt. Stop. Stop it. Stop it stop it stop it stop it stopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopit _stopitstopitstopit!_

Unable to bare the pain any longer, the world went dark.

* * *

Nya sighed as she wrung out the cold, wet cloth before she placed it back onto her older brother's sweltering forehead. How had it come to this? How could they have missed such a grievous injury that their fiery brother had?

This was all her fault. If she'd only been more attentive, and not wallowing in her own doubts and self-pity about the mission. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

Nya flinched as Kai whimpered softly, no doubt his fever spiking. She softly took his scalding hand in her own, gently rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. They'd found Kai delirious with fever when they had went to see why he wasn't up yet, the hard ground underneath him stained red with his own blood.

She'd never forget the sheer lifelessness as they tried to awaken the fire ninja. That was when we found the horrendous injury in the form of a steel bolt lodged deeply into his leg. The steel bolt went deep, and the muscle around it was torn and irritated. It must have gotten worse with all the running around and fighting he had done. Not to mention the raging infection that must have set in sometime during the night.

Her brother's screams as they'd removed the bolt would haunt her nightmares.

She'd known that it wasn't going to be painless, as they didn't have the necessary equipment to put him under and they were to far from the nearest hospital. It had been their only option that would ensure that Kai would survive until they could get to proper medical help... But it didn't mean that she would have to like it.

Jay, unnaturally subdued, quietly made his way into the room, closing the door behind him before he made his way over. The blue-clad ninja gently rubbed Nya's shoulder, his blue eyes never leaving the haggard, pale-skinned form in the bed. "We'll be at the hospital in a few minutes." He murmured softly. Sucking in what was supposed to be a steadying breath, the water ninja nodded, briefly scrubbing at her eyes. Jay wisely said nothing and instead started helping her ready Kai for transportation. He couldn't help his full bodied shiver that racked his body as he watched his brother's scarred chest struggle for each breath.

It... it just wasn't _right_ seeing his spirited, passionate brother like this.

Not at all.

* * *

Cole breathed.

In.

And out.

In.

And out.

_Crunch._

The earth ninja growled, frustrated, and was _this close_ to throwing this flimsy chair that _insisted_ on it's armrests breaking every time he laid a finger on it (it _totally_ wasn't because he was to upset to properly control his strength. Nope. Completely the chair's fault.) across the room when Lloyd despondently trudged his way in looking for all the world he was carrying the world's burdens. Shoulders slumped, he didn't even look up as he bonelessly collapsed into the chair next to the black-clad ninja. Cole could relate.

Getting Kai into emergency care had been a nightmare. Not because of the staff, but because the fire ninja had _stopped breathing_ as they loaded him onto a gurney. Nya had frozen, her eyes wide in terror and helplessness. Jay had taken her home. Zane was still stuck at the _Bounty._

And now he and Lloyd were stuck waiting. Perfect.

Cole could tell that Lloyd was trying his hardest to keep it together, to be the mature, strong leader that he thought that he needed to be 24/7 no matter what anyone else said. The earth ninja got it, he really did, but it didn't make it any less exasperating. Shaking his head, he wrapped his solid, well-toned arm around the Ninja's mutual little brother and tugged him closer to his side. Lloyd stiffened, but soon relaxed, burying his face into his black-clad brother's shoulder. Cole clenched his jaw and closed his eyes at the sheer _helplessness_ to stop the tremors shaking his little brother's shoulders as he struggled to quiet his hiccuping sobs.

The earth ninja could feel Lloyd mumble something into his now soaked gi and rubbed his shoulder while glancing down at the mop of platinum blond hair, "Your going to have to speak up buddy, I didn't catch that."

The green ninja reveled his tear-soaked face and heart-shattering, shiny-with-tears, big green eyes that just destroyed Cole's _soul_ just looking at, something _howling_ inside him to _fix_ (...or destroy, depending on the situation...) whatever was hurting him. And he... _couldn't_.

It physically _hurt him_ not being able to fix this kind of hurt.

He knew there was only one thing, one _person_ who could... And he was in the emergency room struggling to survive.

"It's just not _fair_." Lloyd whimpered, half-hiding his face back into his black gi, snapping him out of his thoughts. That took Cole aback, blinking down at his little brother. Lloyd never complained about things being fair. _Ever._ The green ninja had learned from a young age that life simply _wasn't fair_. It was sad, but true. And the Ninja had never heard him once say anything about it.

But... this wasn't about Lloyd.

This time, it was for Kai's sake.

If the black ninja's heart hadn't being hurting before for his little brother, by Fate was it now. He wrapped both arms around his brother, offering every ounce of comfort that he was able, gently shushing him, "I know. I know it's unfair, and I know you know that's the way life is," he added on, knowing what tends to run through the younger's head, "But Kai's the strongest person I know, and if anyone can pull through, _he_ can."

With a final sniff, resolve hardened in Lloyd's green eyes as he nodded, wiping away the tears still rolling down his cheeks, "You're right. Kai can do this. We just... We just gotta put our faith in him."

Cole gave him a tired half-smile and tussled his platinum locks, "That's right Greenie."

"That's exactly right."

* * *

Zane was pacing.

That in itself was worrying.

But the Master of Ice really didn't care at this moment in time.

There was still no word, after hours of waiting.

After Jay and Nya had returned, one grim and the other still in shock, the white-ninja had taken to pacing around the ship and hadn't stopped once for eight hours.

Eight hours of worrying. (More like nine, since he hadn't stopped worrying since they found him this morning)

Eight hours of " _what if?_ "s...

Eight hours of not knowing whether Kai was going to pull through.

It was enough to wear a track into his processors... And the poor floor. Zane just hoped that news, _any_ kind of news, would be given to them soon.

He wasn't sure how much more they could take...

* * *

It had been twelve hours since Kai had been admitted, and only just now was he being settled into his hospital room in the ICU so that he could be watched over for any complications.

The news had been grim. Kai had flat-lined five times. _Five._ And had, on the last one, been legally dead for an entire forty-eight seconds.

 _Forty-eight seconds_ , the world had been without it's lovable, hot-headed Master of Fire.

That was forty-eight seconds too long in Jay's books.

But, that wasn't all. _Ohhh_ , no.

The nurses had revealed that his red-clad brother's form was _littered_ with scars of all sizes. From paper-cut worthy, to _how-the-heck-are-you-even-still-alive?!_ sizes. They had all been gobsmacked, and then unbelievably angry (that was actually just supreme concern), when they'd found out. Why hadn't he told them? Just how often had he been injured without their notice?! Many of them from this past year alone!

Needless to say, they all wanted some answers.

Sadly, they might not be getting any.

Kai had a raging infection trying to tear him apart from the inside-out, and with his blood-loss, there was a very high chance of him never waking up at all.

As he said. Grim.

Really, the only reason Jay wasn't falling apart right now in a panicking mess, was because Nya needed him. So he stayed strong, toughing it out in silence as he watched her slowly fall apart with each near mechanical breath.

Machines. He was good with machines. If they broke, you could fix them. If they died, you could revive them.

But Kai wasn't a machine.

He was broken in ways that he couldn't fix.

And if he died... he couldn't revive him.

There were no do-overs. No magic reset button.

Nothing he could do.

Jay decided he hated that.

* * *

Kai wasn't aware of anything, really... Just that it was soft. Warm. Painless.

...Painless?

That seemed wrong to him somehow. But... he couldn't remember why...

He sunk into a haze.

Drifting aimlessly, he could vaguely tell that time had passed. ' _How long?'_ He distantly wondered.

The question faded.

Thoughts continued to trickle through his hands, touching the surface of them, but never being able to grasp onto them for long.

He continued to drift.

Something was missing, he realized later. That realization came with a certain, clear clarity that allowed him to grab onto it with both hands in a vice-like grip. The haze lifted a little. He was suddenly aware of a sore ache that he could feel deep down into every bone.

He'd forgotten he'd even had bones...

The feeling of something missing and the general sense of _something is wrong_ grew. Where was he? How did he get here?

A sudden thought slammed into him like a rampaging dragon.

_Where were his siblings?_

Desperation burned out the rest of the hazy darkness he had settled into for who knows how long, his injuries that he'd forgotten about up till now making themselves known with a vengeance... and his memories becoming crystal clear along with them.

Oh.

Perfect.

Nya was going to _murder_ him for this...

But first, he had to wake up.

( _After all, he couldn't be dead because he doubted that you would be aching and sore in the after-life.)_

...Which proved to be more difficult then he had expected.

But, never the one to be deterred, he finally pushed though...

And found himself staring at a ceiling in a dark hospital room.

* * *

Good news. Finally.

After a week of no relatively no improvement from the red ninja, the doctors had informed them of increased brain activity. His chances of waking up, of _surviving_ this, went up a little more each day.

They were up to two weeks, two _horribly_ long weeks, the doctors saying that Kai could be waking up at anytime now.

Anytime.

_Any time at all._

The clock read midnight. The witching hour.

Lloyd never understood that saying. And really, he was too tired to even try. He was pretty sure that his heavy eyes were blood-shot, red from crying.

Red. Red was the color of fire. The color of power. The color of warmth.

The color of Kai.

But it was also the color of war. Of danger. Of blood.

 _Kai's_ blood.

Every time he blinked, the images seared into his eyelids, he could see Kai laying pale and still - oh, _so still_ \- and in a puddle of mostly dried blood. He could see and time the exact moment he stopped breathing, stopped fighting.

But, then, Kai never did stop fighting, did he?

No, he fought tooth and nail, even while deeply unconscious, and his heart continuing to stubbornly hold onto life even if it faltered at times. Even with a raging infection that the doctors had only just been able to battle back, calling it a close thing and that if they hadn't gotten the normally red-clad ninja there when they had, they would have lost him. Same with his leg. The doctors had been amazed that the Master of Fire had evaded having it amputated, though by a narrow margin. Yet they doubted that he would ever be able to walk without assistance of a cane from now on.

The ninja gave it about a month or two before Kai was walking around like nothing had ever happened. He was far to impatient for anything else.

Lloyd smiled at the thought, before a soft groan shattered the swallowing silence as if it was spun glass. It immediately held every ounce of his attention as he scrambled to his feet and closer to Kai's side, daring to feel hope as it blossomed in his chest.

Kai's face was scrunched, and then...

He blinked open his eyes.

* * *


	7. The End (Is Just a New Beginning)

For a moment…..

He simply…

Drifted.

Existed.

_Kai!_

Breathed.

_Yo- awake!_

The world swam in a way he never thought it could, all blurred and rushed together. As if…

Was he underwater?

_Kai?_

_Nonono, Kai, don't-!_

Panic slammed into him like a speeding truck, and suddenly he was coughing _and coughing he couldn't **breathe** where did the air go-_

 _Kai, listen, **listen** , breathe with_ me okay? Feel that?" Something- _someone_ \- grabbed his cold hand with their own warm one, placing it…. It on…. on a chest?... taking deep, exaggerated breaths. "Yeah, that's me. That's it… that's it, just breathe Kai. You're just fine, Kai, just fine…"

Taking gulps of air, his weakened hand finally managed to grab hold of the person that was supporting him. The world finally, _finally_ stopped swimming, revealing a darkened hospital room with his little brother's familiar brilliant, glowing green eyes peering at him worriedly.

Quietly panting, Kai furrowed his brows. Wh..what happened? Why was he in a hospital bed…?

And why did Lloyd have that achingly familiar haunted look in his eyes as his gaze seemed to drink in the sight of his brother _alive, not dead and dying and **screaming** , oh the **screams** -_

"You almost _died_." Lloyd suddenly answered, his voice wavering and shattering Kai's thoughts. Something like _anger_ flared in the green ninja's eyes, but… but, no, it…. it ran deeper than that.

There was _fear_ in his little brother's eyes.

Fear of loss.

Fear of losing his big brother.

Fear of losing _Kai_.

Fear of being abandoned _again_ , even if it would be _far_ from intentional.

Kai's heart broke. Before he could offer anything, before he could even open his mouth, Lloyd barreled on.

"You can't- you can't _do that to me_ , to any of us! You, you _idiot_ , did you even _think_ of what you dying would do to us, to your _family_?" Lloyd ranted through the tears that streamed down his face.

Far from done, the youngest ninja stabbed a finger at his big brother. Kai absently noted that Lloyd's hand was shaking, the rest of his mind struggling to process everything else.

"Did you even _think_ for a _moment_ that we wouldn't be _devastated_? That we would be better off without you?!" Lloyd didn't even let Kai answer, "Because we **_wouldn't_**!"

"We _wouldn't_ ," he repeated, panting, as if, if he had to make _anything_ clear, it would be _that_. The righteous fury seemed to waver, his livid expression slowly crumbling into something far more vulnerable.

Lloyd, in this moment, had never looked younger.

His little brother hiccuped as he tried to fight the sobs that _would not_ be stopped no matter how many times he went to scrub the tears away.

Every instinct _screamed_ at Kai to _fix this_ , make this _right_ , _no matter what it took-_

Lloyd stiffened as he felt arms- _familiar arms_ \- weakly shift to hug him, before simply giving in to his tears and hugging Kai back as tightly as he could without hurting him.

Too close.

That had been _too close…_

* * *

Kai had been _thoroughly_ chewed out in the passing hours.

The poor nurses had all but given up at this point trying to enforce the rule of "one visitor at a time" as the others had stormed the room.

No one even _dared_ try to stop Nya on a warpath. Not with _that_ look in her cutting stormy sea eyes…..

Lloyd looked smugly satisfied off in his corner as she all but physically _shook_ her blood brother, hissing seething words and threats that if he **_ever_ **pulled something like this again she would _kill him if whatever else didn't first, revive him, and then kill him again._

No one had any doubt that she would follow through on those threats.

Her piece said, she wrapped Kai up in a firm hug. Something silent passed between them, and Kai buried his face into her shoulder.

The others soon came in, all clamoring and scolding and all silently reassuring themselves that their brother was _here_ and _alive_ and….. and while not necessarily _okay_ , not yet, not by a long shot, he had the _chance_ to become so.

And that's all they really could have asked for.

* * *

_Two weeks later…_

"Kai, I _swear_ to the FSM, if I find you on your feet without at _least_ your crutches _one more time-"_

"But _Nyaaaaaa_ , it's so _boringgggg_ sitting around all day!"

"Well then maybe next time-"

Cole and Jay glanced to each other, Cole fondly rolling his eyes and shaking his head as Jay quietly snickered. Yep, things were, slowly but surely, going back to normal.

Zane peeked out from the kitchen, looking mildly concerned but wholly unsurprised. "They at it again?"

Lloyd groaned, burying his face into one of the throw pillows on the couch. "Kai doesn't seem to understand that _he almost lost a leg_ ," He grumbled. "He shouldn't even be _thinking_ of walking, let alone _training_."

"It is good to see our brother back to his old self again," Zane commented wryly.

A moment of heavy silence passed, memories of that first week forcing their way to the forefront of their minds…

...The less said about that week, the better.

"How long do you think it'll take for Kai to try and secretly train again?" Jay asked as he forced a grin that looked _almost_ genuine as he tried to break the grim silence that had fallen over them.

It seemed to have become a common thing as of late.

Eager to help lighten this load, Lloyd snorted. "I give it an hour or two unsupervised."

Zane ruefully shook his head, "Honestly, it is completely illogical to be pushing himself this hard right now." He glanced to Lloyd, "Especially as he never allows _us_ to push ourselves."

"That's Kai for you," Cole sighed, flopping over Lloyd's legs on the couch where they were sprawled. Their mutual little brother didn't even twitch, simply shifting a little before settling.

Grumbling, Jay plopped down on the floor beside them, resting his back against the couch. "Has he _always_ been this self sacrificing, or is this a new thing? Because I feel like he's either gotten _worse_ …. Or he's just gotten sloppy at hiding it."

"A mix of both, if I'm being perfectly honest."

The brothers' collectively glanced up to see Nya returning from the fire master's room. She shrugged, and continued, "He's always been this way, ever since I can remember…."

She crossed her arms, going for the look of ease to cover up that fact she was hugging herself at the memories dragging themselves to the surface. Memories of long, cold nights as her big brother slaved away in the forge to at least attempt to support them both after their parents…. disappeared…..

Memories of finding her brother going hungry so she herself would never feel the harsh pangs of little food.

Memories of him always, _always_ being the strong one, despite Kai's claims that _she_ had always been the stronger of the two of them while growing up….

Nya mentally shook herself, dragging herself back from the depths of her memories. "...but yeah. He's definitely gotten worse from since we were kids. And I guess that makes it a little harder to hide, the levels and extents he goes to now..."

There was a moment of silent agreement.

"We can't let this happen again," Lloyd murmured into the yet again silent room.

No one needed clarification to what ' _this_ ' was.

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to stop him? Sloppy hiding or not, we _still_ never suspected a thing until _we found him almost **dead**._" Jay replied, his frustration and fear and worry all spilling into his words.

Cole nudged him with a foot. "Well, this time we know to look for it. _This_ time we're ready for him to pull this kinda stuff."

Zane gave a determined nod of agreement as he added, "I have already cataloged and memorized his behaviors." His expression grew serious, "It appears that our fire-based brother has a very bad habit of avoiding medical checks."

"Not anymore." Nya declared, her tone _final_. "I don't care if it's a _paper-cut_ , we _will_ know about it after every mission… I am _not_ going to lose my brother to these stupid self-sacrificing stunts he pulls."

The others voiced their full-hearted agreements-

 _Thump_!

Oh, not again….

_"KAI!"_


End file.
